zonbu

Zonbu introduces its first notebook, at $279

Updated December 3 to include more information about pricing.

The Silicon Valley PC company that made a splash earlier this year with its tiny, energy-efficient desktop has set its sights on the mobility market.

Zonbu announced Wednesday it will sell a Zonbu Notebook and service beginning in early 2008. Like the Zonbu Mini that came out this past summer, the notebook will run on the Zonbu OS, and is rated highly by the Green Electronics Council for its energy efficiency. The key concept behind Zonbu is its service. "People shouldn't have to be their own IT administrators," … Read more

One week with Zonbu

After my July 26 post about the inexpensive Linux-based PC called Zonbu, I was contacted by a public-relations agent working for the company.

He put me in touch with Zonbu CEO Gregoire Gentil, and I met with Gentil on August 22, prompting another blog post on the topic of flash drives.

Last week, I received the loaner system Gentil promised me, and I've been using it since. (It's small enough to be shipped in a standard U.S. Priority Mail box.)

On Wednesday, I read an article by Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal. The piece's title conveys the subject as well as Mossberg's… Read more

Flash drives in the news--and in real life

Wednesday morning I visited the new Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters of Zonbu, makers of the low-cost, service-supported Linux computer I mentioned last month (here). I met with Zonbu CEO Grégoire Gentil, who gave me an overview of the company's business plan and a demo of the system. He also offered… Read more

Another $100 PC... or is it?

It was inevitable that someone would try to capitalize on the interest in the $100 XO laptop from the One Laptop per Child project. I'm sure we all remember the brief craze for free PCs in 1999, where a cheap PC was given away with a relatively expensive or ad-sponsored Internet service agreement. When I started hearing about the $100 laptop, I expected it would spur a resurgence in such deals.

So when I checked out Zonbu, a Silicon Valley company offering a $99 Linux-based PC, I wasn't surprised to discover there's a service agreement involved there … Read more

Zonbu: the Zipcar of personal computers

You can find a decent computer for a lot less than $1,000 these days. But what if you want to pay even less without splurging on software, and can't stand to deal with that oxymoron called "tech support" when something goes awry?

The pay-as-you-go Zonbu PC is a novel new option. This book-size, two-pound desktop lacks a hard drive, instead storing your data on its servers using 128-bit encryption (hands-on here). Zonbu's 4GB flash memory is loaded with Linux and open-source apps.

Similar to cell phone or cable TV service, you'd pay $99 upfront … Read more